Background
A native of Yiyang, Hunan, Hu Linyi was the son of a very successful scholar who came third in the 1819 juren examinations.
A native of Yiyang, Hunan, Hu Linyi was the son of a very successful scholar who came third in the 1819 juren examinations.
Hu was also a brilliant student. He earned the jinshi degree in 1836, and became a compiler of the Hanlin Academy in 1838.
His career was interrupted in 1841 when he returned to Hunan to mourn his father s death. In 1847 he purchased the substantive rank of prefect and was assigned to the province of Guizhou, where he held office in several prefectures until 1854. He soon distinguished himself by his efficient organization of militia and knowledge of military science in the suppression of bandits and secret societies. His manuals for baojia (system of mutual security) and the militia were particularly effective. The governors of Hunan, Hubei, and Guizhou, all vied for his service.
In 1854 he was promoted to the intendancy of Guidong, whence he dealt effectively with insurgents in neighboring Hunan and Hubei, and checked the advance of the Taiping rebels. For his accomplishments, he was successively appointed provincial judge of Sichuan and Hubei in the summer of 1854, but continued his military activities in the area. In early 1855 he was dispatched to help Zeng Guofan in the siege of Jiujiang in Jiangxi province. But as Wuchang fell into rebel hands in April, he was sent to recapture that city. To facilitate his mission, he was appointed acting governor of Hubei. In the next year and a half, there were many hard-fought battles. Funds were scarce at times until Hu introduced the lijiti (likin) to Hubei late in 1855. He also raised the morale of his troops with Confucian exhortations of loyalty and faithful service. Eventually, with help from both within and outside the province, and with the deployment of smart tactics, he captured Wuchang in December 1856. As a result, he was formally installed as the governor of Hubei and awarded the button of the first rank.
Hu saw the recovery of Wuchang and Hubei province in broad geopolitical terms. The security of Hubei, in his thinking, was critical to the pacification of the Taipings in the lower reaches of the Yangzi. And the safety of Hubei, in turn, depended on the government's ability to hold Hanyang, the city across the river from Wuchang. With Hanyang secured, the rebels would be denied the option of escaping or causing trouble upstream, while government forces could use it as a base for an eastward drive, particularly for the recapture of the strategic town of Jiujiang. In addition to shoring up the defense of Hanyang, Hu also attended to the rehabilitation of the entire province. He was disturbed by the shifting loyalties of the common people. To regain their faith in government, Hu took pains to clean up the bureaucracy. Many unscrupulous officials had taken advantage of the chaos created by war and continued to collect taxes in areas where taxes had been forgiven. As for areas where taxes were collected, surcharges were added until they doubled or tripled the original amounts. Yet the revenue remitted to the government invariably fell short. Hu quickly put a stop to the malpractice, thereby reducing the people's tax burden while increasing the government revenue. At the same time, dozens of incompetent or negligent officials were impeached, while the virtuous and meritorious were rewarded. The revival of the salt monopoly also helped to restore the financial health of the province. It has been said that he laid the foundation for the modern development of Hubei.
With the provincial government put on a stronger footing,Hu was able to push the rebels eastward, out of the province by the end of 1857, paving the way for the eventual recapture of Jiujiang in June 1858. For his role in this major victory, he was given the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
The capture of Jiujiang called for a review of the overall strategy against the Taipings. On Hu's suggestion, a four-pronged campaign was to be conducted under him, Duolongya, Li Suyi, and Zeng Guofan the last had earlier been recalled from mourning for military service on Hu's urgings. An intermediate objective was the capture of Anqing, capital of Anhui. Seeing that his colleagues were wanting in tactical knowledge, he, in collaboration with others, compiled a handbook on the subject. This was the Dushi binglue (Military Tactics as Learned from History), published in 1861.
During his tenure as Governor of Hubei, Hu managed to significantly reduce the land tax by improving the method of collection, providing a model for other provinces during the Tongzhi Restoration era. His ideas were adopted by other provincial leaders, such as Shen Baozhen in Jiangxi.